Clouds on the Horizon
by emazey
Summary: Sequel to oneshot fic 'Sleep like a child' You'd think once the war was over everything would be okay? Well not for Ginny. Being pregnant with her dead love's baby as well as grieving and moving on with her life is difficult when she is so wrapped up in h
1. Curtain falls

**Disclaimers: The story,Harry Potter isn't mine, and neither is the boy either –sobs-**

**A/N: This is the sequel to my one-shot song fic, Sleep like a child. You could go and read that if you like, but it's not particularly important that you read it to understand what's going on. The first chapter is some R/Hr fluff for you shippers out there before I go into the main story.**

Chapter one: Curtain falls

The cheers were still echoing around the house, even at one in the morning, the drunk wizards and witches were still proposing toasts, sharing jokes and generally having a good time. Ron Weasly's voice was among them. The toasts were to 'the end of fighting' and 'the boy who lived'. The reason to all this celebration? Why, you-know-who had been defeated! That's right, there were no more horcruxes, the death eaters were either dead or had ran away and finally everyone could be at ease. All thanks to one boy.

Even Mrs Weasly a burly, motherly woman with the famed red hair was joining in with the toasts, which were getting more ridiculous by the minute. Her cheeks flaming an interesting colour of rouge.

The alcohol was still flowing by the time Ronald Weasly stepped away from the crowd, stumbling over his feet, giddy and extraordinarily drunk. He'd noticed something odd and had pushed away from the scrabble to find out what. Ron searched the room with dilated blue eyes, his focus not quite right. But what he was looking for would have stood out, even if his sight were blurry. Ron's brows furrowed and he left the room to search else where around the burrow, doing his best to not trip over bodies of people who had already collapsed thanks to the amount of fire-whisky they had consumed.

Ron staggered into the hall. He choked as he breathed in some of the cigar smoke, which thronged the air, squinting he spotted a figure leaning against the door. He recognised the someone as one of his best friends.

"'Mione?" he called out to her, the girl whose brown hair covered her face looked up and smiled, "'Mione is that you?" The girl came out into the light and swept her curls behind her shoulder.

"I've been expecting you." She said taking a step towards an utterly confused Ron. A mischievous smile was playing on her lips, tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Y…you have?" Ron swayed on his feet and grabbed onto the side table so he would fall onto his knees. Hermione took another step.

"Yes I was waiting for you to step out from the others." Ron didn't take his eyes off her. What was she playing at? She was acting so…mysterious for a lack of a better word and yet her alluring behaviour was sending shivers all the way up his spinal cord.

"And why would that be?" Hermione stopped and stared at him blankly before shaking it off as that smile crept back on her features.

"To get you alone."

These four words put Ron on high alert. Alone? All alone? Perhaps he could finally tell her what he'd been meaning to for such a long time. He found he couldn't move, perhaps it was the drunk state he was in or it could be the effect of her words that had made him stiffen up like a board.

It was long before Hermione had taken the last bit of the journey until she was standing opposite Ron. Her eyes reflecting his expression, her smirk still hadn't vanished, her attention on him and him only.

"I have to tell you something…something important…" she whispered letting her sentence trail off, it had the desired the effect as a meaningful silence erupted between them.

Words were not needed. It seemed a fire had lit within them and without his knowing, Ron suddenly found himself pining Hermione to the wall, furiously smothering her lips with his own. Passion and lost opportunities was what guided the kisses, the cheers and shouts in the other room were now oblivious to them. All that mattered was each other.

Suddenly Hermione turned over so that she had Ron sandwiched against the door, they didn't notice the coat stand that was knocked over by this sudden movement. They didn't notice Ginny who had wanted to go out the door for some reason, they didn't notice that fights had started breaking out in the other room, they didn't hear Mrs Weasly shouting at Fred and George for turning Percy (who had been forgiven by his family by the way) into a canary by the means of a canary cream.

"Wait I need to tell you." Hermione said in-between a very passionate kiss, Ron did nothing but grunt at this and began to suck her neck. Hermione bent her head low, enjoying this wholly before lifting it back up to whisper in his ear, "I love you Ron."

Ron froze. Through his drunken state he certainly hadn't expected that. She loved him, him, Ronald Weasly! The buffoon! Ron lifted his head to look at her properly. Those three words he'd only dreamt about hearing, was this a dream? Ron was about to say something when suddenly there was a large thump from behind him. Someone was at the door.

Both Ron and Hermione hastily jumped apart and stepped down the corridor. The front door was flung open and something flumped onto the floor. Hermione covered her mouth to cover up a strangled scream. The something was the body of their other best friend, the hero, the great Harry Potter. His hair was wet and his clothes soaked in mud, his glasses were lopsided and cracked down the middle and his eyes were closed. Someone fell beside him on her knees, sobbing into her hands and letting her long red hair cover her face.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, not quite knowing what to do. What had happened? What was wrong with Harry? Why was Ginny crying!

"Ginny, are you alright?" Hermione managed to ask after a few minutes of gaping and staring, "What happened? What's wrong with Harry?"

Ron watched his little sister cry, utter things that you couldn't quite distinguish as a sentence with the concern that a big brother should have. He was not only worried for her but also for his best friend, who was still lying on the floor, motionless. They both waited for the distraught girl to regain her composure enough to answer Hermione's questions, and the fear that something terrible had happened grew.

"Harry…he's…he's…" Something in Ron's alcohol influenced brain clicked while Ginny struggled for words. Harry had once told him they way he was going to end the war. The only way Voldemort would be defeated. "He's dead!"

**A/N: Dun dun dun. Evil cliffie in the first chapter oh how horrible of me! Well there's your big R/Hr scene! It will mostly be H/G (memories and such) and G/OC (yes, I'm bringing in my own creation, oh horrors!) I have no idea how long this is going to be so don't ask. We'll have to see how the story flows won't we :) I'll update as soon as I can! Can't leave you hanging too long can I?**


	2. Acceptance

Disclaimers: WHAT! Harry Potter doesn't belong to me! Oh woe is I… He and the books about him belong to J.K Rowling.

A/N: I've decided to do this from lots of points of views…my first was Ron and this will start from Hermione's. In future I'm not going to tell you whose POV it is. I'll just be evil and spring it upon you…then you'll have to guess…. laughs ebily

Chapter two: Acceptance

Deadly silence. One of those, that even though there was no sound; it seemed to echo around the rooms of the house. When the others from next door had heard the commotion and the cries coming into the door, they had all come out into the hall to see what in the world all the racket was about (Not that they hadn't been making one themselves…). All of them, every single pair of eyes of the wizards and witches that had been celebrating only seconds ago, were flicking from the misery-wracked Ginny to the still body of Harry, the one who had saved them from peril. All standing behind Ron and Hermione with the same shocked and pale faces. No one spoke for a while. It was if they were trying to understand what Ginny had just said and yet not quite believing it.

"Wh…what?" Ron whispered harshly in ultimate disbelief. Hermione, her hands still clasped to her mouth in horror, kept her gaze on Ginny whose sobs began to shake her body intensely.

"It killed him!" she cried, steering her tear-stained face to look into her brother's, the others all watched her intently, wanting to know what was going on. "It took him with it, and…. and there was nothing I could do, but just sit there and let him die."

Hermione turned away, no longer being able to watch. There were many things she didn't understand quite yet. How he died was just an example, it was just the shock of the news that Harry had passed on and the heartache Ginny was currently experiencing. Hermione turned to face Ron instead who was staring back at his sister with so much incredulity and concern. And yet, she saw a flicker of anger in his eyes.

"Gin, this isn't a joke!" he suddenly thundered, "Harry couldn't be…"

"Do you think I would joke about this!" Ginny snapped back with malice and disbelief of her own that her brother didn't believe her. Hermione observed Ron's expression, saw when it softened and crumpled like a sturdy wall that had been whacked down by a heavy boulder.

"But how?" Ron's voice sounded as if it was on the point of breakage, Hermione knew how he must have felt. It was something similar to how she did.

"He was the only one, the only one who could end it."

"But I thought V…you know who was dead?" Ginny shook his head rapidly at Ron's comment. A few people suddenly gasped at this news, The Dark Lord was still alive? How could this be? Hermione finally broke then and began to whimper until she burst into tears.

"He wasn't." she answered both Ron and the worried wizards and witches sighed in relief that only lasted so long, "So Harry still had to defeat him and.."

And with that she Ginny suddenly fell onto Harry's body and leaned into his shoulder, her arms hang limp around his sides while she cried. The party all looked at their fellow companions, asking for their opinion on what to do, how could they make it better for her?

Although most of them, if not all them knew what it was like to lose a loved one. The pain just doesn't heal.

Later on, when the ministry had been called and came to take his body away, Hermione sat in the kitchen, drinking tea. Hermione's eyes were red and sore from crying as she listened to the ministry trying to prick Harry's body away from Ginny's grasp.

"Look dear, its going to do him no good just staying here, we have to take him away for examination." After this, Hermione heard Ginny's wails as she protested against the kind woman who was doing everything she could to make this easier for Ginny. The party had departed from the house a long time ago. It was impossible to think that only a couple of hours before, they had been drunk with happiness because the war was over. Now Hermione was hung over with a shadow of sadness that was with everyone in the household.

Ron suddenly entered the room from the side as the woman from the ministry tried once again to persuade Ginny to let Harry go. He noticed the other person occupying the room and sighing sadly, he walked over and collapsed in the chair across the table from Hermione.

"You feeling okay?" Hermione started and lifted her gaze to meet his tired eyes. The blueness and clarity of them glistened with the loss of his best mate and his red hair was al lover the place, from the exhaustion from all the events of that day. Hermione nodded and looked down at her lap as she tried to bite back more tears.

"Hermione, I have to tell you something." At this Hermione jolted her head up so fast, it might had well broken off. _He had to tell her something. _Those were her exact words when she'd told Ron that she loved him…could he possibly be doing the same? "Its about Harry...I…I knew he was going to die." Ron looked away while Hermione stared at him intently as sudden guilt whipped at her conscience. How could she have been thinking about her own love life while Harry was dead and gone? Hermione felt like she was the worst friend in the world just then.

"y…you did?" Ron didn't meet her gaze. Why wasn't he? There was something he was hiding, "Ron just tell me!" she demanded, her grief still lingering in her voice. However, it seemed Ron didn't need to tell her. She was a smart witch after all.

"Wait, does this have something to do with the bond between Harry and…and…"

Ron blinked at her, with a look of astonishment at her brilliant intelligence before smiling sadly and confirming her theory.

"Yeah, Harry said something once…about that bond, that when…you-know-who was destroyed. He said it might take him with it, or something like that." Both of their stares moved to a spot on the floor, both in the deepest of thoughts. Hermione's was how everything seemed to make sense. Why Harry was missing at the party…the reason for Ginny's hasty departure and why she'd seemed distant the last few weeks…

_How would she cope now?_ Hermione thought worryingly, _She's eighteen and carrying his baby for crying out loud!_

Without Hermione realising it, Ron had stretched out a hand and suddenly grasped hers. Startled, she tried to take her hand away. An instinct for when she was off guard. Ron although kept a tight hold on her hand and Hermione was forced to meet his eyes, embarrassed slightly. To her surprise he did not have a red face, but a smile.

Both Ron and Hermione suddenly came to an understanding. Although Ron had had time to come to terms with what was going to happen, they both knew they needed to accept that what had come, had come. Harry was dead and they couldn't change it. All they had to do was stick together to stay strong, it what Harry would had wanted, for them to…

All of a sudden Mrs Weasly trudged into the kitchen, blubbering into a handkerchief. Hermione, who was inches from Ron's face jumped backwards and into her chair and Ron did the same, letting go of her hand. The middle-aged woman didn't seem to realise what had almost happened in the room and unaware of the couple's flushed cheeks. Perhaps it had something to do with her being too occupied in dabbing away the tears that kept falling. Ron and Hermione's gazes followed Mrs Weasly until she reached the cooker, took out her wand to instruct it to boil some water so she could make boiled eggs. That's what Mrs Weasly did when she was upset, she cooked. A lot.

Hermione watched with concern as Molly wailed while observing the eggs cook themselves. Then Hermione turned her head at the sudden desperate screeches in the other direction to see two hefty men roughly tugging Harry away from Ginny's flailing arms.

"NO!" Ginny screamed frantically as the large muscular wizards, all dressed in black heaved Harry's body out of her arms. She reached out desperately, trying to keep hold of him, wanting anything but to have him taken away from her. Perhaps she still had a glimmer of hope that this, all of this, wasn't real and her love could bring him back to her. That fruitless hope vanished when her grip on Harry wasn't strong enough and he was ruthlessly wrenched out of her gasp. Ginny's eyes widened in fear as they took her love through the door and out of sight. From her life forever.

Ginny's chest wrenched as the very last piece of her heart she'd tried to prevail tore viciously into sharp fragments and sunk heavily into her lower stomach. Her whole body sank like a deflating balloon until she was slumped on the floor, her shoulders drooped and her brilliant red hair hid her stricken face.

The house was empty, apart from her mother's wails, her brothers' snores and that silence that still occupied the hall ever since she'd broke the news that Harry had…had. Ginny's lip trembled; he hadn't even heard her tell him that she loved him one last time. All those things she'd wanted to say to him that she hadn't managed to. One of them being that she would make sure their child knew everything about his or her father. Know what a wonderful, sensitive person he was and the heroic things he did just for Ginny. She would tell their child everything she knew, from his favourite food down to how he would always frown and tap his quill on the desk when struggling over a piece of homework…

There was a hand on her shoulder. A hand, Ginny realised, had been there for a while. She looked up and saw the tall, straggly blond woman who had been the first to try to take Harry away from her. Ginny felt a sudden pang of anger, which she knew shouldn't have been there but couldn't stop the rage from ensnarling her insides.

"Its going to be alright soon," The woman said, giving Ginny a weak smile with stormy eyes, "I know it will."

_How would you know! _Ginny felt like screaming this in the woman's face, letting her know that she would never feel okay, never again. _You will never know_

The woman gave Ginny a sharp, stiff nod before gliding towards the door and following the men out, leaving the red head alone. Alone to live with the problems that lay ahead in her road, which she now had to wander aimlessly down. The only road she had.

A/N: So, I gave you a bit more of R/Hr romance…strange, it wasn't planned at all. It just came while I wrote this chapter…Aha! I have a sub plot! A 'secret' romance of Ron and Hermione! Oh what joys! You'll find out why its 'secret' later on. Hope you liked this chapter. It was longer than the first one AND I had a bit of Ginny's POV at the end…excellent. Please don't kill me for the sadness! Not yet! Please! I know it's a little depressing and all but keep holding your hopes out! Ginny's life will get better, I can promise you that  So, what about the next chapter? There will be a memory from Ginny about her and Harry! And the funeral AS WELL! Wow, you do have a lot to look forward to…how will Ginny cope? Find out…sooooooon!


	3. Hello and Farewell

**Hello is a greeting and farewell a goodbye. We say these phrases so often; it doesn't have much importance to daily life. They are only hard to accomplish if hello is for the first time and farewell for the last...**

**RATED R FOR REFERENCES!**

**Disclaimers: -and to her utter dismay, the author discovers yet again that Harry Potter doesn't belong to her, but to J.K Rowling-**

Chapter Three: Hello and Farewell: Part one

You may not know this, but usually, in the winter, the sun does not rise until the day is late. Okay...so you may think now, what a stupid thing to say! Of course I knew that, what was the point? But, you see, some people are not aware simply because they are too busy with their lives to notice. This however was not the case for a certain ethereal figure, which on the day that would change the wizarding world forever, watched the sun rise. The truth was, he had all the time in the world now to see the vibrant orange rays peak over the horizon of the cornfield and begin to lazily light up the grass on the hill in which the figure sat on. The character wrapped the billowing cloak around his colourless body and features. You would have thought he did this because it was winter and he was cold, right?

Wrong. 

The almost gauzy figure could no longer feel the cold of the harsh winter frost, or the pleasing heat from the sun. In fact, no longer could external feelings be experienced any more. It's hard to explain, but it was like his whole body was numb, or immune to what the weather would usually do to his skin, and to his mind. In a way, this was good for him, because all there was to focus on was the emotional prospect of the situation he had been thrown into.

He didn't effectively, with lack of a better word to describe it, know what to do. It now felt like he was a stranger, in this world the figure did not belong anymore, yet; somehow, he was stuck here. The stranger was lost, and all he could do was watch the sunrise as it began to show the dark clouds that had formed over the night. All he could do was wait; wait for the time when Ginny and the rest of her family would wake up to the new day.

There was a knock on Ginny's bedroom door where she was getting ready. She wore garments that included a black, melancholic dress which ran down all the way to her ankles and had a low neck line, a hat which a fishnet veil hung over the front so no one would see her face and shoes which were also black. The reason being for these rather depressing items of clothing was that today was the funeral of the great Harry Potter.

Of course, he hadn't been the only one who died; this service was not just for Harry, but also for everyone who had tragically lost their lives. The list included a few of the Hogwart's teachers; Professor Flitwick, Professor Trelawney; also Remus Lupin had lost his life while saving his only love, Tonks. Many other people had also died. Families had lost fathers, sons, mothers and daughters who had all fought bravely or had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If all these deaths weren't enough pain for the Weasley family, Charlie was missing. Everyone had reason to believe the remaining Death eaters had captured him; attacks were still frequent across the country.

Ginny looked at herself in the mirror, smoothing down her dress before going to answer the person at the door who was now calling her name and knocking for the third time.

"Ginny, Mum says we're going in ten minutes." A some-what agitated Ron said at the door, Harry's death had been a major blow on him too. Dark circles hung under his eyes that showed how sleepless his nights had been. He had been Harry's best friend after all. "So, make sure you're ready by then."

Ginny gave her brother a slow smile, one that was strained and seemed to be a stranger on her features.

"Fine," Ginny said, before closing the door. Ron stuck his foot in the door, causing her to give him an odd look.

"Um, Gin just wondering, are you alright?" How many times had she been asked that question lately? She knew they were just concerned but still, answering it with either a nod or a grunt was getting quite irritating. However, today Ginny decided to use a bit of variety to answer Ron properly.

"I'm okay, considering." Her gaze fell down to her shoes that were newly polished and her hat tipped slightly over her forehead. Ron was silent, as if he didn't know what to say.

"Are you going to be okay out there?"

Ginny's answer was merely a grunt.

"I mean, both me and Hermione are here if you need us as well as mum and the others."

Another grunt.

"This is going to be tough for all of us, so try to smile."

Another grunt, yet again.

"Oh yeah, and one last thing Gin."

"What?" Ginny snapped, just wanting him to leave her alone. Suddenly Ron's gaze fell to her dress and a frown creased her brows.

"Don't you think that dress its, well…" Ginny watched as her brother's face grew steadily a more crimson colour and he became more uncomfortable before finally whispering. "It's a bit…a little…revealing."

That was the last straw for Ginny, who suddenly threw the door at Ron, slamming his foot in the process. All the way down the hall, Ron's howls could be heard as he stumbled down the stairs. His yelps gave her perhaps a tiny bit of satisfaction, only a little. Ginny trudged back towards the mirror to examine her morbid appearance, mostly to look at the dress. Fair enough, the dress did come down rather low at the cleavage, but at the time, that had been the idea. Back at a point when all she was worried about was what she looked liked, for Harry. A moment in time when everyone put their worries about the war behind them, just for the night…

_"Damn, out of butterbeer." Ginny muttered under her breath while examining the jug, which had once carried everyone's most favoured drink. Sighing heavily, she bent down under the table to search for a full jug to please the queue that was forming in front of her. Ginny didn't know what she had signed herself up for when she volunteered to do the drinks stall for the seventh years going away party. Being a sixth year, she wasn't supposed to be here at all, but she and the rest of the students in her year had been given the chance to help out. The name, Ginny Weasley had been the first one on the list. ___

_The reason being, this was the year Harry Potter was leaving Hogwarts, so that would make him illegible to be at he party. Or would it? Harry hadn't exactly been around much lately for reasons that escaped Ginny, in fact, neither had Ron or Hermione. Sometimes they would be there, but most of the year, they just weren't. Ginny presumed it had something to do with Voldemort, because whenever she asked Harry, Ron or Hermione they would all suddenly look terribly afraid of something and say, 'Its nothing that could put you in danger'. Put her danger? More like put her in total misery! She hadn't had a proper conversation with Harry really since they broke up. Ginny wanted more than anything to get back together with him. ___

_Unfortunately, she was beginning to think her efforts into dressing up for him were going to waste. Harry hadn't turned up. Ginny had gone out especially to find the perfect, sleek, long dress, which did up around the neck and was extremely low cut, just something to give him the initiative. It was making any boy who looked her, effectively drool, but not the boy she wanted, and why would that be? Oh yeah, that's right, he wasn't there. ___

_Ginny straightened up, heaving an especially heavy jug of butterbeer onto the table. Doing her best, she tried to pour the right amount while ignoring where Seamus's eyes were looking. Let's face it, it would creep anyone out. ___

_"Here's your drink." She said, giving Seamus a dirty look as well as his butterbeer, "Enjoy." She smirked before moving onto the next customer, who happened to be another staring guy. ___

_Eventually, an hour passed; everyone seemed to have found something stronger than butterbeer from someone else and Ginny was allowed a break. Frustrated, because Harry still hadn't turned up, she leaned back against the wall behind her and the drink's table. ___

_Why wasn't he here? What could possibly be taking so long? And WHY was the music so loud? ___

_The loud bopping that came from somewhere in the room was causing her ears to ring and the claustrophobic lighting was making her feel faint. Ginny also felt dizzy and perhaps a little sick, she needed to go lie down, perhaps just go to bed. Since he honestly wasn't coming… ___

_Suddenly the music stopped abruptly. ___

_The room fell into a mixture of angry shouts at why the party had come to a halt and whispers as three people came into the room. One, which Ginny's eyes were permanently fixed on; Harry, Ron and Hermione were officially in the building. ___

_Ginny let out a strangled gasp, Harry, even at the Yule ball, had never looked so…so…handsome! Of course, there was his beautiful eyes, his great smile, but now he filled out his dress robes in a way which now was making her drool, and…and… ___

_"MY GOD, he has sexy hair!" Ginny whispered with delight and absolute amazement on how he'd managed to keep it flat. A smile tweaked the corners of her mouth, oh was she going to have fun tonight. ___

_Ron and Hermione were the first to spot her. ___

_"GINNY!" Hermione shouted as the music started up and she ran over to embrace the girl, "It's so good to see you!" Hermione was still screaming, since the music was loud again. Ron casually walked over and gave Ginny a manly nod. ___

_"Doing alright sis?" he asked, Ginny nodded, although not really realizing what he'd said, being too occupied of trying to get a good look at the sexiness that was the boy of his dreams. Ron's tall height had blocked her view. ___

_Deciding to go and say hello to him herself since Harry hadn't come over, she stepped from out behind the drinks table and pushed past Ron and Hermione to get to the jet-black haired boy, standing in the middle of the dance floor. Harry suddenly averted his stare to the floor as Ginny walked out. She frowned, as she got closer, there was no mistaking that he looked incredibly awkward for some reason. ___

_"Hello Harry." She grinned cheerfully, trying to get his attention. Harry quickly looked up before going back to the floor and mumbling something that sounded like a hello back. ___

_Then there was a silence, an awkward one. Well what had she expected? They were ex boyfriend and girlfriend after all. ___

_"So…how you have been?" she asked, trying to start up a conversation. ___

_"I'm…err..." There was something in his behaviour that struck as odd. He'd never stuttered or stumbled when he talked to her before…even after the break up in the few words they had exchanged. "I…I'm" ___

_"You're…" Ginny prompted, sounding as if she was a mother trying to teach a toddler how to speak properly. ___

_"I'm fine!" he spoke up, quite loudly and Ginny gave him a satisfied nod and even in the dark, she could see his cheeks were flushed. He was…embarrassed? What about? Ginny gave him a slightly puzzled look before he pushed his gaze back to the floor and mumbled something no one could have picked up. ___

_"Excuse me?" Ginny asked kindly. It seemed suddenly there was an enraging battle going on in his mind and he was struggling with himself to say the right thing. ___

_"Youlooknicetonight." He said, all at once and Ginny still didn't get it. ___

_"Harry, I can't hear you, can you…" ___

_"I said…I said!" and suddenly, frustrated it seemed, Harry turned and ran into the other direction. His face was ablaze with curious embarrassment leaving Ginny utterly perplexed. She turned to her brother and Hermione, who had been watching the scene with amused interest. ___

_"Sis, did you have to make him all flustered? This is his first time back at Hogwarts in a while after all." Ginny gave Ron a look that simply said, 'what are you going on about'. Ron puffed out his chest, proud of getting one over his sister and stepped forward. ___

_"I mean, what can a guy do if the girl he has been talking about non-stop turns up to a party in an incredibly, um," Ron coughed, as if to hide the awkwardness from his tone, "Revealing item of clothing." Hermione was now giggling senselessly at this comment. ___

_A look at apprehension dawned on Ginny's face and she looked back in the direction where Harry had run. She had forgotten all about how awkward Harry sometimes got with girls; it had just slipped her mind when she had gone dress hunting. The biggest grin spread across from ear to ear. Oh, this was going to be fun… ___

Ginny suddenly found herself in a church, a muggle one in a small village. No longer was she at the seventh year party with Ron and Hermione, but at Harry's funeral. She was once again reminded that Harry was dead, dead and gone. Suddenly afraid Ginny's head revolved around the room to realize that everyone was looking at her for some reason. 

"Why is everyone staring at me?" Ginny thought desperately, as the gazes still hadn't left her.

Someone on her left nudged her sharply in the arm, and Ginny discovered it was Hermione.

"It's your turn to go up!" Hermione whispered, pointing to the stand. Ginny looked from her friend to where she was gesturing to while her brain was processing this information. Eventually, Ginny rose from her seat and began to make her way towards the stand, to speak a few words about her beloved Harry. Ginny glided down the church aisle, the eyes of the people who were attending the funeral never left her moving form. Not even when she faced them while at the stand, did their attention waver.

Ginny looked upon them all, waiting for her to start. Fear coursed through her like nothing before, her heart was thrashing wildly in her chest. It felt too much all of a sudden. Ginny swallowed a large lump before even thinking of beginning.

"I…I first met…" The curious muggle invention that was named, a microphone suddenly screeched in protest as Ginny was too near. The gathering broke out into murmurings and Ginny stared at the device in horror before moving her head back slightly.

"I first met Harry at…" The wires of the microphone were suddenly wrapped around her feet and Ginny stopped to shake them off. She didn't want any more public humiliation than she was already facing.

"I first met Harry at Kings cross…" Ginny's attempt to free herself from the wires had failed, because suddenly, as she took a step back, her feet became more tangled and found herself flipping backwards and landing on the ground with a large thump.

Everyone in the church gasped and the murmurs became loud enough so they echoed round the church. Meanwhile, Ginny lay on her back as tears suddenly blurred her sight. This was not how the funeral was meant to go. All she wanted was to make her last farewell to Harry, the way he'd wanted it, she'd got it in a quiet muggle town where there was no wizard press to be seen. And now, she was messing it up, and big time.

Ginny then found herself fleeing as the tears free fell until she burst through the doors. A few people jumped to their feet from their places, in an attempt to pull her back. Ginny, however carried on running in a flurry of black material and ginger hair that whipped behind her. Stumbling through the gravestone and tombs of the muggle dead, Ginny almost broke down the rust covered iron gate to be free of the gloom-filled grounds. She passed down country lanes and roads with beautiful cottages aligning them; having no clue where she was actually going.

So, that was the reason she didn't see the vaporous, eerie figure standing right in front of her. This was the reason why they collided.

**A/N: Hope you liked my Elvis reference! Chapter four is in the middle of writing  I bet you can't wait to find out who the stranger is…Review!**


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